Mr Williamson's plan to hike council tax for homes from Band D to Band H was seized on by the Tories, who mocked up an image featuring the MP and the message "I want to double your council tax", which the party posted on social media.

Under the initiative, the levy could be frozen for properties in Bands A to C, with a progressive rise after that leading to a 20% increase for Band D homes valued between £68,000 to £88,000, and a 100% hike for Band H ones worth more than £320,000.

Mr Williamson stressed the plan was not Labour Party policy and would need to be backed in local referendums before it was introduced.

He told HuffPost UK that the "differential progressive council tax" idea was conceived out of frustration at local authority cuts to generate income to fund services.

Revealing the plan on Wednesday, Mr Williamson told HuffPost UK: "You can imagine the Daily Mail and Daily Express would go to town on a proposition like this.

"It's not a panacea, it's a response to a terrible situation. I think it's an argument that could be won.

"This is not Labour Party policy, it's an idea I came up with at a local level and it's got a little bit of traction in other parts of the country. It's a reaction to an emergency that local government has been placed in."